Payton Shubrick

Payton Shubrick opened her family-owned cannabis retail store 6 Brick’s in Springfield, Massachusetts, in September 2022, after four years of “stresses, fears and tears.” Within six months the New England Cannabis Convention named the store “Best MA Recreational Dispensary” and gave Shubrick the “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” award, while March 16 was named “6 Brick’s Day and Payton Shubrick Day” in Springfield.

“Winning awards is always nice, but changing the narrative around what success looks like in industry was always my goal,” Shubrick says.

Shubrick says 6 Brick’s is a “true mom-and-pop store” with her as the CEO, her mother Dawn Shubrick working as the executive secretary, her father Fred Shubrick overseeing the store’s security and facilities and her sister Taylor Shubrick taking on the company’s marketing manager.

In addition to the business, Shubrick works as a coach for social equity applicants in Connecticut’s Cannabis Business Accelerator Program and teaches a graduate course on seed-to-sale operations at American International College.

Shubrick attributes her accolades to “faith, family and community,” and gives back by helping others become involved in the industry and hosting events like the company’s expungement clinics and advocating for communities to support local small businesses.

“Massachusetts was the first state to have 10 multi-state operators present, which created real challenges between customer expectations and prices declining,” she says. “Honestly, the awards reaffirm that 6 Brick’s existence is resisting the strong narrative that multi-state operators own and control the Massachusetts market.”